Spotlight on South Loop
By H. Ellis Beck Throughout its history, the northeastern portion of Bloomington, Minnesota has been home to plenty of notable developments. This corner of a second-ring suburb, sandwiched between the Minnesota River and major highways, has hosted farms, a wildlife refuge, a professional football and baseball stadium, a professional hockey and basketball arena, huge surface […]
Waterfalls and Hurdle Rates in Real Estate Private Equity
By Madeline M. Strachota What is better—tiered returns or pari passu? It’s up to you. Private equity organizational structures have various merits and demerits. As appraisers, we see a variety of entity structures—partnerships, limited liability companies (LLC), corporations—all organized in different ways, which makes understanding the governing documents of an entity essential to understanding the […]
Bitcoin, Blockchain, and Banks
by Cody J. Lindman Like Dutch Tulip Mania during the 17th century, the price of a single Bitcoin increased astronomically during 2017, starting the year at $998 per Bitcoin before eventually peaking at $19,666. However, in 2018, Bitcoin’s luck ran out, with the price of a single Bitcoin declining to $3,747 as of January 1, 2019, […]
Waving, not Drowning
by Brock L. Boatman Physical retail is not dead, and it is not dying. Online retailing is not so much a killer of the mall as we know it, but more like a personal trainer: it’s pushing existing product to adapt, and the owners and locations that are willing to do the work will emerge stronger […]
A Window of Opportunity
by Madeline M. Strachota and Johnny Meeker A provision in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act established preferential tax treatment for investments in distressed, lower-income areas around the country, known as Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZ). The Opportunity Zone program was designed to attract investment that would spur economic development and job creation in areas that […]
Economic Benefits Provided by Municipal Liquor Stores
By: Joshua R. Johnson Economic Benefits Provided by Municipal Liquor Stores The 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on December 5, 1933, effectively repealing the 18th Amendment, and ending nationwide prohibition on the sale of alcoholic beverages. This transferred liquor control from federal oversight to state oversight. Many states immediately sought to privatize […]